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Fitch Ratings downgraded Sears Holdings Corp.’s ratings to C from CC, after the company announced a distressed debt exchange. The company said it has commenced an exchange various tranches of debt held by Sears and its Kmart business. The news comes after the department store chain said in early January that it is in talks with certain lenders to amend the terms on more than $1 billion of non-first-lien debt, to reduce the interest expense and extend maturities. The exchange involves pay-in-kind notes, that allow the company to make interest payments with more debt. “Fitch views these exchanges as a distressed debt exchange (DDE), given extension of maturity date and the change in interest from cash-pay basis to PIK, and assumes that the collateral base for the secured debt will remain unchanged post the exchange,” said the rating agency. Sears most active bonds, the 6.625% notes that mature in October of 2018, fell about 1 point to trade at 83.05 cents on the dollar, to yield 35.073%, according to MarketAxess. Shares were down 1.5% and have lost 64% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 25%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

General Electric Co.’s stock jumped 4.5% in afternoon trade Tuesday, to bounce sharply off a more than 6-year low a day before the industrial conglomerate reports fourth-quarter results. The one-day gain would be the biggest since Oct. 5, 2015, when it climbed 5.30% after activist investor Nelson Peltz disclosed a large share purchase, and after GE announced a deal to sell its corporate aircraft financing portfolio. GE is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results before Wednesday’s open. The stock rose 1.1% on the day third-quarter results were reported, but fell on the day of the previous seven quarterly reports. The stock, which closed Monday at the lowest level since Dec. 2, 2011, has plunged 24% over the past three months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 13%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Gold futures rose Tuesday to their highest level in nearly a week, buoyed by weakness in the U.S. dollar, with a key index for the greenback touching three-year lows. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index was down nearly 0.3% at 90.168. February gold rose $4.80, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,336.70 an ounce, marking the highest finish since Jan. 17, according to FactSet data.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of GoPro Inc. are down 2.2% in midday trading Tuesday after analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to underweight from equal weight. The analysts, led by Yuuji Anderson, warned that GoPro could be in for a “long year ahead” given “limited earnings power” and weak demand for its new camera line. Anderson addressed media reports saying that GoPro may be working with an investment bank on evaluating the potential for a sale, writing that he doesn’t have knowledge of any such moves but that they wouldn’t seem to make sense. “We think the market is giving too much credit for the potential strategic value of the company given its current earnings power,” he wrote. “Whether by itself or within another ecosystem, GoPro’s value is tied to its usability, and its earnings power remains at risk at the current pace of functional improvements.” Anderson lowered his price target on the stock to $5 from $9.50. GoPro shares have fallen 35% over the past 12 months, compared with a 25% rise for the S&P 500 Index .

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. are up 2% in Tuesday morning trading after Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight. She also upgraded shares of NetApp Inc. and Teradata Corp. to equal weight from underweight; NetApp’s stock is flat, while Teradata’s stock has gained 2%. Morgan Stanley data suggest “inflecting IT budget growth” and Huberty predicts “a bull case of several years of stronger enterprise IT growth.” On HPE, she thinks that the current share price ” bakes in double-digit declines in residual value after 2019, which we believe is much too conservative given the expected growth re-acceleration, margin expansion, and increased access to cash with tax reform.” Huberty also thinks there’s room for NetApp and Teradata to beat revenue estimates and grow their margins. She sees “fewer near-term catalysts” for HP Inc. , which she downgraded to equal weight following a 62% appreciation in share price over the last 12 months. HPE shares are up 25% over that time, while Teradata’s stock is up 40% and NetApp’s is up 75%. The S&P 500 Index has gained 25% over 12 months.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Arista Networks Inc. fell 0.9% in Tuesday morning trading after analysts at Deutsche Bank cut their rating to hold from buy. Arista shares have more than tripled over the past 12 months, and the team at Deutsche Bank is concerned about valuation. “There is little room for error at current elevated levels,” wrote Vijay Bhagavath. He thinks order pauses are possible during the second half of this fiscal year and into next year, and he also sees new competitive risks emerging. A “resurgent Cisco is starting to make ‘strategic inroads’ into major cloud and content providers,” he wrote, which potentially include Microsoft Inc.’s Azure. “This suggests setup for meaningful competition from Cisco for Cloud customer share of wallet and potential for muted beats and raises from Arista during FY19-20+,” he added. Separately, Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette raised his Arista price target to $310 from $260, noting that “resellers are raising expectations for enterprise spend” and could present chances for share gains. Arista shares are up 204% over the past 12 months, while Cisco Systems Inc. shares are up 38% and the S&P 500 is up 25%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Arista Networks Inc. fell 0.9% in Tuesday morning trading after analysts at Deutsche Bank cut their rating to hold from buy. Arista shares have more than tripled over the past 12 months, and the team at Deutsche Bank is concerned about valuation. “There is little room for error at current elevated levels,” wrote Vijay Bhagavath. He thinks order pauses are possible during the second half of this fiscal year and into next year, and he also sees new competitive risks emerging. A “resurgent Cisco is starting to make ‘strategic inroads’ into major cloud and content providers,” he wrote, which potentially include Microsoft Inc.’s Azure. “This suggests setup for meaningful competition from Cisco for Cloud customer share of wallet and potential for muted beats and raises from Arista during FY19-20+,” he added. Separately, Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette raised his Arista price target to $310 from $260, noting that “resellers are raising expectations for enterprise spend” and could present chances for share gains. Arista shares are up 204% over the past 12 months, while Cisco Systems Inc. shares are up 38% and the S&P 500 is up 25%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Palo Alto Networks Inc. are up 2.4% in Tuesday morning trading after analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to buy, while shares of Fortinet are down 2% following a downgrade to hold. Deutsche Bank’s Karl Keirstead thinks Palo Alto Networks looks attractive, given that it’s trading at 13 times free-cash-flow estimates for the 2018 calendar year. “The last few quarters have been relatively clean, overall firewall demand appears to be stabilizing and our latest round of field checks (on 4Q17 demand and the 2018 outlook) for the company were positive,” Keirstead wrote. His channel checks for Fortinet, meanwhile, were mixed or negative, with Keirstead noting that “multiple contacts indicated that demand in Q4 was soft.” Shares of Palo Alto Networks have recovered their losses from Monday, which came after analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to neutral. Palo Alto Network shares are up 11% over the past 12 months, while shares of Fortinet are up 38% in that time and the S&P 500 is up 25%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News